StarShots
by Skleero
Summary: Yet another series of random, cheesy one-shots. May contain a lot of Starco trashiness.
1. The Date

_Hey everyone._  
 _When will SVTFOE come back from the war?  
Still waiting for Season 2._

 _This is probably going to be a collection of one-shots._  
 _Expect a lot of Starco trash.  
This is one of the very few things I wrote since Star Vs. The Finale._

 _You know the drill: English is not my first language, so feel free to correct me harshly, if necessary._  
 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 **The Date** _  
Marco finally asks Jackie out and wants his first date with his life-long crush to be perfect._

* * *

That was an usual sight for princess Star: Marco, her human best friend, ditched his usual red hoodie for a grey, formal-ish shirt.

And for good reason.

"So... how dow I look?"

The boy asked to his magical friend, standing in the middle of his room, Star sitting on his bed, scrutinizing him from head to toe, acting as his personal fashion-advisor for the big night. The princess narrowed her eyes, making Marco painfully wait for a response on purpose, enjoying his dorky nervousness; she giggled a bit and finally nodded in approval.

"Relax, Marco. You're fine!" she commented, but the boy wasn't happy with the verdict.

"Fine? Just fine? It's Jackie we're talking about!" he spluttered, rushing towards his wardrobe. "Everything must be perfect!"

Star let Marco cool down for a moment as he rummaged through his hoodie-filled closet. She knew how much he waited for this night, his first official date with Jackie, the girl he was crushing on since forever. The fact that Marco finally found the guts to ask her out was already impressive enough: she was honestly proud of him.

"You got this, Marco! Don't worry! You got everything planned. Just talk to her, be yourself and… no." her smile turned into a disgusted smirk.

"The tie's too much, right?" Marco asked, quite rhetorically, as the princess zapped the horrible tie out of this world with a quick spell from her wand.

The boy, by far used to his friend's magic, simply started rolling his sleeves up, far from calming down though. "It's not like Jackie cares about how I dress, right?"

"Nah, she's not that kind of girl, she's fine… just like you!" Star insisted. "Just take her to that dumb kissy movie and… well… as I said, be yourself!"

"It's not dumb." Marco took that almost as an insult: no one should call into question his planning abilities. "It's the best romantic comedy of the year. Certified 'fresh' on all the websites that matter!"

"How cute. You could seduce her with a live review of the movie." she joked and then threw a pillow to him, which he mindlessly dodged.

Marco nervously finished rolling up his sleeves while staring at his doppelgänger in the mirror. "Very funny, Miss 'take Jackie to the Flesh-Eating Dimension where you can let her punch a real zombie demon'. Good thing I'm not dating you…"

"Mock me if you want, but I'm an expert in matchmaking and dating advices." she claimed, rather proudly.

"Yeah… no offense, Star, but you're not like other girls." he replied, spraying some nostril-killing fragrance on his wrists.

The boy checked his phone, noticing how late he was and panicked one more time for a moment. He and Star immediately rushed downstairs; he took one last deep breath, finally ready to dive into the unknown. "Wish me luck!"

Star closed her eyes, her hands joined, looking more like a female, colorful guru. "May this experience open your eyes." she spoke in a soft tone, the sentence sounding more like a dark omen though.

"Wait. What was that about?" he asked, somewhat worried.

The princess chuckled in response. "It's just a cheesy thing we say on Mewni. You think too much, Marco." she said, pushing him out of the door. "You go have fun now! The sooner you leave, the sooner I can help your dad make his delicious nachos."

"You know I'm the only one who can make super-awesome nachos, right?" he asked, amused.

"Just focus on your date, Diaz!" she yelled and closed the door, leaving him outside of the house.

Marco chuckled a bit, finding the princess' naive personality somehow charming.  
He checked the time again and headed to the Echo Creek Park, the place where Jackie was waiting for him.

* * *

The two teens' laughter echoed in the entire park.

They were sitting on the grass, side by side, looking at the distant, modest skyline of the city. The park was located on a small hill, not very far from the city-centre. That was not the most romantic place of California, but that's what you have to settle for when you don't have a driver license, despite being sixteen.

"You guys really did that…?"

Jackie giggled, her beautiful, piercing green eyes glittering and reflecting the faint lights of the city.

"Oh yeah. And that's why we're banned from the Xemlar Dimension." he said, trying not to laugh again.

The date was going quite well, _surprisingly_ well.  
They've been sitting there for almost 30 minutes, chatting and laughing about Marco's crazy adventures with Star. Jackie was absolutely delighted by the boy's sometimes absurd stories about those weird far away places, alien dimensions and hideous monsters.

"I can go on forever, I swear. The Universe is full of weirdos. And Star seems to know all of them…"

They both took a sip of their soda and chuckled a bit more.  
While thinking of something to say, Marco realized that maybe he talked bit too much.

"Oh no. The movie! What time is it?!" he quickly stood up as if his own life depended on it. "We have to go, Jackie!"

The girl just stared at him, amused. "We still have time, don't worry." she reassured and invited him to sit again next to her.  
She opened another can of soda and handed it to Marco, noticing his nervousness, despite his best efforts at hiding it.

"Before that Xemlar Dimension… you said something about a… reptile-lawyer guy I think?" she asked, trying to make him talk about a subject he seemed very comfortable with: his crazy adventures with Star.

Despite the memories not being all positive this time, Marco let out a soft cackle. "Yeah. Better known as Toffee."

"Toffee?" Jackie snorted, almost choking on the soda. "What kind of name is that?"

He laughed too and told her the complex history of Mewni, the monsters, Star's wand… and how many adventures this caused. He talked about his dimension-hopping experiences for maybe 30 more minutes, without even realizing how much time was passing, but the fact that Jackie was visibly enjoying it only made him talk more and more about it.

He loved reliving those adventures; he felt like he needed to share those wild stories with someone, or even talk about Star's crazy antics and spells, how much he hates when she turns the couch into a giant space worm; or how much he loves when they simply share a soda after one of their frantic monster battles.

Jackie was sincerely fascinated, intrigued by Marco's crazy stories.  
She knew that the so-called "safe kid" had a very interesting life, especially since that magical princess came in his life.  
The girl couldn't stop asking questions and staring at him, noticing how he finally looked confident about himself.  
She also noticed something else, like how his brown eyes lightened up every time he talked about this wild stuff; that "light" looked very familiar to her: she was sure she saw it in many other occasions on him.

Not the date she was expecting, but she wasn't really surprised.

"Marco…" she simply said, amused, interrupting a story about how he and Star stopped a brain-eating plant.

The boy just stared at her in silence, smiling at her. He then looked around, noticing that they were alone.

And then it hit him.  
He started to sweat.  
He tried to say something, but only a series of intelligible, stuttered words came out.

"Oh no…" the boy finally spluttered. He stood up, his face turning red, completely embarrassed. "Please tell me I didn't just waste almost 2 hours of your life…"

Jackie chuckled in response, still sitting on the grass, no intention to leave. "Don't worry, Marco. That was fun!".

"Fun?" Marco asked, sarcastically. "I messed up! We were supposed to watch the best romantic comedy of the year!" he uttered, the hope of having that much-awaited "perfect" date now gone forever.

"Marco, I'm already watching the best romantic comedy of the year, trust me." she reassured, laughing a bit more. "Really nice plot and characters. But the male lead seems a bit too… distracted."

Marco was puzzled by the girl's calm and strangely amused reaction.  
He sat next to her, taking a deep breath.

"I can't believe I just spent the whole night talking about… well…" he chuckled, trying to hide his embarrassment.

The boy wanted to disappear, to hide forever, maybe in another dimension.  
That was probably the most embarrassing moment of his life.  
And Jackie being so chill about it was somehow making things worse.

He felt like he didn't deserve that gentle, sympathetic reaction.

"You didn't waste my time, Marco. I had a lot of fun. And you are a great story-teller." she said, gently elbowing him.

"I'm a total disaster." he stuttered, lying down on the grass, staring at the night sky, defeated.

Still with a reassuring smile drawn on her face, Jackie lied next to him.  
She could almost sense his utter embarrassment and how uncomfortable the whole thing was to him.

"I'm sorry, Jackie. I just-" but he was interrupted.

"The nod-look!" she said, out of nowhere. "That's where I've seen that light."

Marco simply replied with a puzzled, confused expression. "What? What look? Do I have something on my face too?" he asked, rubbing a hand on his cheek, as if it was all dirty. Jackie chuckled and got up, crossing her legs, resuming her previous sitting position. The boy did the same.

"The nod-look! The one you shared with me every morning!" she said, nodding. "Remember?"

He did remember, of course.  
That was the only way he approached to her since kindergarten.  
The only interaction he had with her, for years, before finding the guts to just say "hi".  
One of the first steps in his perfectly-planned life with his crush.  
But the whole "light-thing" was still confusing to him.

"You'd never admit it, because it's not manly I guess… who cares…" she shrugged. "But you guys have this weird thing lighting up in your eyes every time you see or talk about the girl you like. I swear we can read you like an open book."

"A light?" Marco said, more puzzled than before, a messy train of thoughts suddenly messing up with his rational mind.

"I know that light, Marco. I've seen it in dozen of guys, including you. Until… well, I don't know. It just disappeared." she said, taking one more sip of soda, her smile still looking chill and sincere as usual.

"What? Where did it go?" he asked, confused, as if it was a serious medical condition.

Jackie giggled a bit, a really faint sense of nostalgia carefully hidden in her laugh. "Sorry, I meant… the light it's still there somewhere. It just found a different… source."

Marco admittedly knew what was she talking about now and he felt even more undeserving of her kindness.  
He stared at her in silence, feeling her amazing green eyes piercing through his very soul, her fingers fiddling with her shell-necklace.  
Waiting for an answer, she still had that very chill look on her face and wondered how she could even smile after the embarrassing mess he made.

"You're talking about St-"

"There it is again!" Jackie laughed. "I've never seen a man's eyes lighten up so fast!"

"Aw come on!" he replied, hiding his face in his hands. "I can't believe this is happening…"

Marco found the courage to look at her again, sensing her green-eyed gaze upon him, no matter what.

"I'm sorry I wasted your time, Jackie. I'm better than this, I swear. You must think that I'm some kind-"

"You're a dork." she chuckled. "You're here because you're obsessed with planning things. I know that you even made a list of steps on how to deal with me."

"She knows about the list" Marco thought, his cheeks turning red.

"And I'm pretty sure you brought it here with you, am I right?" she guessed.

And guessed right.  
Reluctantly, Marco reached for a small, folded piece of paper in a back pocket of his dark grey jeans, carefully avoiding any eye contact with the green-eyed girl sitting next to him.

"I knew it. Now shred it." she ordered, but without losing her comfortable smile.

"What?" Marco shrieked. "This list is the painful result of years of meticulous planning, dreams, hopes. And some tears. Maybe. No tears. Why are we talking about tears?" he stuttered.

"You are smart, Marco, and that's cool. But you think too much…"

Now those were some familiar words.  
He stared at the carefully folded piece of paper he was holding and handed it to Jackie.

"I don't want your list, Marco. Destroy it." she said, losing her smile for a moment, purposely doing an impression of a certain reptile-looking foe that the boy talked about during their date.

Slightly amused by the disturbing imitation, he took a deep breath and obeyed.

He easily shredded that long list of steps, a soft, cold night breeze blowing the pieces of paper like petals in the wind.  
He felt like he witnessed the end of an era.  
He felt free.

"She's not like other girls, you know." he finally admitted, hoping he didn't say anything offensive or too stupid.

"Yes. I noticed." she simply replied. "I'm proud of you, Marco." she then added, landing a gentle, playful punch on his chest.

"As a matter of fact, Jackie… you are awesome." he said, rubbing the spot where the girl jokingly punched him.

"Thanks." she simply said, handing one last can of soda to him. They cheered and took a long sip together.

The two teens stared at the shreds of paper dancing around like pollen, the glittering lights of the city skyline becoming one with the stars in the sky: the most unusually romantic sight of the night, a perfect epilogue for the weirdest date ever.

* * *

When Marco came back, he found Star on the couch, completely wrapped in a warm blanket, staring at the television, the only source of light in that dark living room. It was very late, probably around 1:00 a.m., but it was Saturday night and they had no school the next morning, so it was okay.

"Monster night?" he asked, sitting next to her, stealing some nachos from the bowl she was jealously holding.

"Better than your kissy movie, that's for sure." she replied, with a smirk, hiding the bowl under the blanket.

Some explosions coming from the TV faintly echoed in the room, followed by a deep roar, as a flying, moth-octopus monster devoured an entire skyscraper in its eldritch jaws.

"So, did you guys have fun?" she asked. "Best date ever…?" she winked.

Marco laughed a bit and crossed his legs, making his sure his grass-filled sneakers didn't touch the couch, while also stealing a portion of Star's blanket.

"Let's just say that… it really opened my eyes."

He said, his gaze glued on the princess sitting next to him.  
Star stared back for a moment, a short infinite moment, and smiled back to her human friend.

"Wanna root for the monster?" he soon added, before a mandatory, embarrassing silence could ruin everything.

"It's not like there are other characters to root for…" she laughed, finally sharing the bowl of nachos with him.

Wrapped under their warm blankets, Marco finally did something he needed to do a long time ago: he stopped over-thinking things; no more lists; no more wasting time.

He just enjoyed the moment, fully embracing the truth he always tried to ignore.  
He only had eyes for her.

Good thing they were finally open now.

 **The End**


	2. The Constant

_Hey everyone._  
 _This is a really short, cheesy one-shot I posted on my Tumblr, but I wanted to share it here too of course.  
It was actually supposed to be just a quick prompt.  
_

 _You know the drill: English is not my first language, so feel free punch me in the face._  
 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 **The Constant** _  
When reality itself is rebooted, Star and Marco's friendship is put to one final test._

* * *

Star had to destroy the wand, end its magic for good and forever: a permanent, irreversible destruction.

The royal weapon was currently the magical power-source of a dark, malevolent, world-devouring entity: destroying it means putting an end to this unstoppable evil force, a creature whose very existence was indirectly caused by Star and Marco's doings.

Even more than that, the eradication of the wand would be a traumatic event for reality itself, a singularity that echoes beyond space and time, something able to completely reset a timeline, if necessary.  
At the cost of wiping out the memories of the people involved.

The Universe was doomed either way.  
She didn't have any choice.

Star and Marco hugged one final time, saying goodbye to each other.  
They didn't want to forget all the adventures they had together, their friendship, their feelings.  
Those deep, true feelings that they realized too late.

With one final spell, the princess triggered the wand's (and their) ultimate fate.

"Star! No matter what happens: I will never forget you! Never!"

It was an Universe-shattering explosion.  
As the wand was being erased form existence, reality, time and space were engulfed in a blinding, bright light.

Marco's last words echoed for a few more moments in the newly-created void of nothingness.  
Then silence; a long, ghostly, disturbing silence.

* * *

Mewni.  
It's princess Star Butterfly's 14th birthday; she's rushing to the castle, ready to inherit her most precious family heirloom: the royal… pendant, a tiny, precious lucky charm, a family tradition. In front of a crowd composed by Mewnians and Monsters, all cheering for the young blonde girl, the Queen placed the golden pendant around her daughter's neck. She's so proud of her.

And, continuing the tradition, she's going to send her to a different dimension, where she can have some life-experiences, before her future royal duties will inevitably force her to stay on Mewni forever.

The princess was curious about this weird, non-magical world called "Earth".  
She soon found herself in a place full of Mewnian-looking aliens around her age, very similar to her, all hanging out in this dirty, smelly building called "High School".  
Her naive, unique reactions around the most mundane earthly things made her earn some puzzled looks from the other students.  
She was so excited to be there, so far from home.

An authority figure known as "school principal" escorted her to, as suggested by her royal parents, a "guide", a person, maybe somebody around her age who would look out for her and keep her out of trouble.

Something seemed off, though; a weird feeling that she had the moment she stepped in this weird human-world.  
For some freaky reason, that alien dimension looked somehow familiar to her.  
It was like living in one of her weird dreams where the monsters were evil for some reason; one of her weird dreams about a magic wand she had to protect, laser puppies, tentacle arms, narwhal blasts and…

…her guide, apparently.

The princess was petrified, scared, surprised, a train of thoughts messing with her confused mind.  
That fiery red hoodie was a very familiar sight, something she saw almost every night, in those weird, confusing dreams.  
She has never seen this boy before, yet she knew who he was; she even knew his name.

"It's you... You're Marco" she muttered, the boy's reaction being not different from hers.

He just stared at her in awe, as the school principal chose to leave the two teenagers alone, sensing some... tension going on.

Did they ever meet before? Did they already know each other?  
It was too weird, if not creepy; not even the princess could handle it.  
Those were just dreams, after all... right?  
She was actually a bit scared: Mewni was full of strange stuff, but she couldn't handle the weirdness this time.

"I'll... I'll just find another guide…" she said, trying to smile, and walked away. Or tried to.

"Wait! I don't want you to go, I want you to stay with us!"

Where did _that_ come from? The boy couldn't believe to what he just said.  
He apologized; his head hurt a bit.  
What was happening to him?  
That was a really stupid, disturbing thing to say.  
Why did he even say that in the first place?  
He felt like those words were ready to come out since... forever.

The boy's line sparked something in Star.  
She had a hunch. A crazy, crazy hunch.  
She didn't really know what was happening though, but she felt the urge to do something.

The princess walked towards this awkward, stuttering kid she swore she knew so well; she stood in front of him, staring at his brown eyes.

"I know this sounds weird but… I'm sorry…"

She couldn't take it anymore.  
She had to do it.

The princess hugged him tight, as if her life, as confusing as it was, depended on it.  
And the moment her arms wrapped around his red, soft hoodie…  
A series of images flashed before her closed eyes: years of of adventures, magic, friendship.  
Her heart-shaped cheeks glowed, while the one in her chest fluttered.  
Those were _not_ dreams.

The boy felt the princess' arms wrapping around him in a lovable, familiar way, as her soft blonde hair gently brushed all over his face, those golden hair that smelt like pixie dust... if that makes any sense.  
The weird feeling that he remembered that hug was unsettling.  
But it felt… right.  
He knew this girl.  
He knew exactly who she was.

Marco finally embraced his old, dream-life and hugged Star back, tears running down his cheeks.  
He couldn't possibly forget her.  
How could he possibly forget that crazy, amazing princess?  
That wacky, whimsical, magical princess who completely changed his life once and, thank goodness, was going to change it again, just like the last time.

Still all wrapped up in each other's arms, their stammering sobs eventually turned into a relieved laughter.  
She remembered how his smile was able to make her feel safe and loved.  
He was so glad he could hear her contagious chuckle again, possibly the most beautiful sound in the world to him.

The two didn't want to let the other go, fearing that the hug was the only thing keeping them and their memories together.  
So they kept hugging, as their joyful laughs echoed beyond space and time.

 **The End**


	3. A Real Hero

_Hey everyone_ _.  
This short is based on a very old headcanon I shared on Tumblr and is set a couple of weeks after Starco (eventually) became canon._

 _As usual, English is not my first language, so feel free to destroy my self-esteem in the comments._  
 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 **A Real Hero _  
_** _The famously heroic Prince Lawrence comes to Mewni with a very important request._

* * *

 _Through the deathly forests of Gargantua.  
Flying above the clouds of the floating kingdom of Volantis.  
Fearlessly battling the fifty-legged spiders of Arakna!_

 _Just a series of small, insignificant tasks for the mighty Prince Lawrence!_

 _His armor shines more than the brightest of the star systems._  
 _The sword he proudly wields has butchered countless beasts on countless moons.  
_ _His incredible intelligence is surpassed only by his modesty.  
_ _More women than he could possibly count have been hypnotized by his amaz-_

"Prince Lawrence!"

Queen Moon's voice echoed in the throne room of Mewni's castle, interrupting the young prince's self-celebratory speech rather abruptly. She was visibly annoyed, if not tired, but she did her best to smile at her guest.

"We are… truly impressed by your quests. We both are sincerely fascinated, right River?"

With a cheesy grin, she elbowed her husband, the King, sitting next to her, on his own throne, ending his poorly-disguised nap.

"Oh… what? Of course!" the King muttered, dazed, slowly waking up, hoping that his confused answer made sense. "You are a brave young man, Prince Francis!"

The Queen patiently ignored his husband's gaffe and quickly thought of something else to say, before the Prince could resume his never-ending, third-person monologue.

"As much as we'd love to hear more of your amazing stories…" she lied. "I must ask you: what brings you here, to our Kingdom, Prince Lawrence?"

The charming prince adjusted his long, blue hair, his tall, statuary figure almost casting a shadow on the two Royals. He remained silent for a moment, purposely having a dramatic pause, before striking a pose, eyes glued on the rulers.  
The Queen wasn't impressed by all that theatricality.

"I am standing here today, in front of you" he spoke in a very formal tone "because I wish to take what I can safely consider your most precious treasure."

The two Royals shared a perplexed look, but they soon started to realize what was the point of the talky prince's visit.

"I have come to ask you for the hand of Your Majesty's daughter, the famous Princess Butterfly" the young man gave yet another dramatic pause, almost shouting the words that then followed. "…in marriage!"

At first, the important request admittedly caught both the Queen and the King off guard.  
They shared again a confused look, processing the Prince's words.

And then they started to laugh.  
They laughed as if they just found out somebody's most embarrassing secret.

"What is the cause of this much hilarity?" the prince asked, surprised, wondering whether the two Royal's unusual reaction had something to do with his request.

The Queen took a deep breath, calming down.  
She went back to her usual, disciplined mannerisms, but couldn't hide her amused smile.

"Prince Lawrence, we are afraid that you won't find our most precious treasure here. She refused to follow the custom of arranged-marriage, breaking a centuries-long tradition of Mewni." she explained, her voice carrying a sense of pride. "And I've never been more proud of her. She already made her decision months ago."

Lawrence first answered with a long, silent, dramatic staring contest, which worried the Queen for a moment, as she thought he was having a stroke or something.

"The _girl_ made a decision?" he broke the silence. "Alone?"

The prince didn't seem to accept the woman's explanation, skepticism drawn all over his face. The King noticed his wife's annoyed look; before she could call the guards, he joined the discussion.

"Prince Lawrence…" he spoke in a surprisingly serious tone of voice. "We are indeed touched by your interest in our Princess, but her heart already belongs to somebody else…"

"Who?" he asked incredulously. "Who in the Universe could be possibly worthy of Princess Star Butterfly's heart?"

The King chuckled a bit in response. "A mighty hero, Prince." he simply stated.

The Queen smiled again, amused by her husband's choice of words.  
As much as she liked the "mighty hero" he was talking about, she couldn't help but to find her daughter's choice rather... peculiar, though clearly (and wisely) driven by true love.

"Of course…" the Prince replied, shaking his head "How blind I've been! Of course Princess Butterfly would choose a mighty warrior to stand by her side!"

The two Royals of Mewni rolled their eyes and let the man have another monologue. "It *is* kind of amusing, once you get used to it." the Queen admitted.

"She's a fearless warrior herself, no wonder her prince should be the same."

He stepped towards one of the big windows of the throne room, staring at an indefinite spot in the sky.  
This was going to take a while.

"I can picture this mighty hero… one who's worthy of Princess Butterfly's heart. His armor must be red, soaked in all the blood of his fallen enemies! His fists must've crushed countless of skulls, in the name of freedom, democracy… love!"

The two Royals chuckled a bit, noticing how he at least got the "red" part right.

"Should I call the guards, my darling?" the King whispered.

"Are you kidding?" the Queen hissed. "This man is better than all the jesters we had."

"Who are you, mysterious warrior? Who are you?! He doesn't even have a name! A dreaded warrior, I see… just hearing his name makes even the bravest man tremble in fear!"

"Well, actually…" but the King was immediately cut off by the prince's dramatic monologue.

"The only thing redder than his enemies' blood on his hands it's the manly, overwhelming passion that Princess Butterfly has the honor to witness every day!"

"I hope not!" the King muttered.

"You, mysterious warrior, you have my respect!" he bowed to an invisible person in front of him, his eyes glued to the sky above Mewni. "Even right now, in this very moment, you must be busy with a very dangerous, bloody quest!" he shouted. "A quest that will only confirm the passionate love that you and your Princess have been blessed with! A quest so dangerous, so risky, that no one in the whole Universe could possibly accomplish without dying!"

* * *

"I made some awesome nachos!" Marco proudly announced, holding a warm bowl full of Star's favorite food. "And they have a double ration of cheese!" he teased.

The announcement literally summoned the princess, as she quickly appeared in the kitchen, her star-shaped pupils glittering with joy and delight.

"Careful, they're hot…" he warned, but that didn't stop her.

Star clapped her hands in delight and took a couple of nachos out of the bowl, tasting their peculiar flavor, a flavor that she loved almost as much as the cook who made it possible.

She then stared at him, the cook himself, the huge, silly chef hat adorning his head like a fancy crown; his stuffy red hoodie shining more than a golden armor; his face scarred by random, tiny spots of cheese.

The princess was very proud of the brave, mighty, cheese-covered warrior standing in front of her, back from yet another successful (and tasty) quest.

Indeed, she chose wisely.

"You are my hero, Marco Diaz…"

 **The End**


	4. A Good Start

_Hey everyone._  
 _A quick, cheesy one-shot taking place after the end of the first episode of the show._

 _You know the drill: English is not my first language, so feel free to laugh at me._  
 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 **A Good Start _  
_** _A semi-retelling of what happened after the end of the first episode of the show, "Star Comes To Earth"._

* * *

"Wait!"

This is the only word he managed to splutter out the moment he saw her walking away, hiding her teary eyes under her golden locks of hair.  
He awkwardly ran towards the princess that came in his life earlier that day and carefully put a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't want you to go... I want you to stay with us!"

The girl's reaction was what surprised him the most.

"Really?! HUUUGS!"

And she literally wrapped her arms around him like tentacles, strangling the teenager in the most affectionate hug he ever experienced.  
Marco just stood there for a moment, without even knowing what he was supposed to do.  
He would have normally felt embarrassed or even panic, but he felt good instead and just smiled at the affectionate blonde princess, even though she couldn't see it.

Eventually, the girl let him go and the two began walking home.

"Are there gonna be monsters attacking us all the time?" he asked.

Yes. Monsters. Like, actual, evil monsters.  
Apparently, Princess Star Butterfly's presence in his life also brought lots of risks.  
Which he loved. He always wanted to take some risks to spice up his dull, boring routine, in spite of his "safe kid" nickname.  
And his admittedly cautious personality.

"Yeah, probably!" she replied.

"All right! Sounds so... dangerous!"

The princess was amused by how much the boy enjoyed fighting with her.  
And, actually, quite surprised as well: the scrawny human displayed some impressive fighting skills (which he simply called "karate").  
He was just looking at him talking about how much he loved dangers, until he felt his hand on her shoulder, his joy almost turning into fear.

"Whoa!" he stopped her. "Let's cross at the light."

"Okay... wild man!" she chuckled, shooting a harmless, silly fish-shaped magic stream from her wand.

The boy and the blonde princess kept walking side by side, the streets almost completely empty.  
It was dinner time and they could see lights coming out from inside the houses around them.  
Earth wasn't really a peculiar dimension, but Star found it really "cute" and fascinating for some reason.

"Hey..." the kid in the red hoodie was the first one to break the soon-to-be awkward silence. "Sorry about before... I shouldn't have yelled at you."

Star was once again surprised by this dorky human's behavior.

"Oh... no need to apologize, Marco Diaz. You had all the rights to be mad at me." she admitted. "I literally created a black hole in your room. I swear if that happened to me I would be so mad!"

Against all odds, the boy just laughed a bit. "Yeah, that was crazy."

"But don't worry! I just remembered that it's a reversible spell. I'll make that black hole spit out your room in no time!"

"Really?!" he was so visibly relieved. "Thanks, Sta- oh, sorry... I mean _Princess_ I guess."

"What was that?" she asked, puzzled.

Marco just rubbed his neck a bit, as if he was embarrassed by something he did (or _didn't_ ).

"It's... you know... I've just realized that you're a 'magical princess from another dimension' and I've never addressed you properly. I'm such an oaf!"

Star simply chuckled in return and put a hand on his shoulder, genuinely touched by how a regular boy from Earth would care so much about this formal stuff.

"It's fine, Marco. I don't care, really. I prefer my name anyway! I'm literally named after the stars!" she said, pointing at the night sky above them. "Why waste it?"

The boy smiled, reassured that, for once, he didn't look like a fool with a girl (or any person, really).

"Besides..." she continued, mindlessly rubbing the crystal embedded in her magic wand, avoiding eye contact for moment. "...you've been really brave back there, when you protected me. So... no, you're definitely not an oaf..."

Marco was confused and smiled awkwardly. "Pffft... come on! I saw what you're capable of... _Star_! You're the great warrior here, while I could barely protect myself!"

"True... I'm pretty good at fighting!" she proudly said, with a smirk, the wand "tingling" in approval. "But hey, at least I found a decent battle-mate!" she chuckled and gently elbowed him. "And you _are_ brave, Marco. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise..."

"Well... I guess I'm the 'safe-kid' because I keep people safe then..."

The two stared at each other for a moment, smiling.

"That was a really cheesy thing to say, right?" he admitted.

Star just nodded, amused by how dorky this boy was.  
The two laughed and resumed walking.  
They didn't even know why they were laughing, but it felt good.

"You know what?" the boy walked in front of her. "Let's start all over again, OK?"

Marco stuck his arm out, his hand reaching for hers.

"I'm Marco Diaz, welcome to the Earth Dimension!"

The princess chuckled a bit, but was confused by that arm.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Here on Earth, we shake each other's hands as a sign of peace or friendship..."

"Friendship?!" the princess' eyes glittered with joy.

She took the boy's hand and almost crushed it with her excited grip, comically wiggling her arm up and down.

"Glad to know you, Marco. I'm Star Butterfly, princess of Mewni!"

The boy massaged his hand and laughed. "Well, that's a good start I guess..."

"Yes. A good start..." she nodded.

There was another moment of silence, this time interrupted by a weird, growling sound.  
Star's heart-cheeks turned redder than usual.

"Was... was that your stomach?" Marco asked, trying not to burst into laughter.

"I'm so sorry! I'm just... I'm starving! It's been a busy day with the wand, leaving Mewni..."

"Fear not, princess." he said. "As your guide, it's my duty to introduce you to our customs and traditions, such as... Taco Tuesday..."

"I don't know what that is... but it sounds delicious..." her pupils turned, fittingly enough, star-shaped.

Marco laughed, satisfied by the girl's interest in his family's culinary habits, and took the hungry, tired princess by her wrist.

"Let's go home..."

 **The End**


	5. Damaged

_Hey everyone._  
 _This one-shot is set after the ending of the "Wand To Wand" episode (which would have been much better as a full 22-mins story, imho)._

 _You know the drill: English is not my first language, so feel free to throw rocks at me._  
 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 **Damaged _  
_** _After the storm, Star and Marco are busy cleaning up the mess caused by the angry cloud summoned by the princess._

* * *

Star has never seen her Earth-home suffering so much damage.  
Roof tiles were blown away by the wind, the dome adorning her tower collapsed into the backyard, uprooted palm trees were laying all around the place.  
The inside was just as messy as the outside: the entire first floor was flooded with water, the couch in the living room looking more like a soaked sponge than the comfy piece of furniture it used to be. Tables were flipped, the fridge in the kitchen fell over the table, crushing it.

The princess watched in silence Marco's parents checking their wrecked house.  
She was ashamed by what her spells did and didn't say a word.  
Luckily enough, her foster family had other priorities and after they made sure that both Star and their son were okay, they just rolled up their sleeves and started to clean up the mess.

"Oh, Star, it is always exciting with you around!"  
"This will take us all weekend to clean!"

She was amazed by Marco's parents kindness and happy-go-lucky personalities, and smiled back at them: she didn't want to have them do all the work.

"Don't worry, I've got this!"

Star raised her wand and enunciated a spell, but stopped mid-sentence when her gaze once again landed upon the wrecked living room around her.  
She's not trusting the wand this time, at least not for things that she'd be able to with her bare, human-ish hands; she learned it the hard way only minutes before.  
The princess stared at her magical heirloom for a moment, then she looked at her best friend Marco, who was busy mopping the wet floor, alone.

"You know what...?" she said, walking towards him, laying the wand on the small table by the couch. "Give me that thing."

She grabbed a mop and started mimicking Marco's movements in an attempt to be helpful in a non-destructive way.  
The boy turned to her, noticing that she was holding it upside-down. He just smiled at how naive she still was when using the most mundane Earth-things and corrected the way she was holding it.

"Oh... that's way better!" Star realized, noticing her own mistake, as she swept the wet floor correctly this time.

As Marco's parents left the house to check the damages left by the storm in their backyard, the two teens kept brushing their mops against the soaked surface of the floor, all in an unnatural silence.  
When doing chores together, Marco was used to hear Star telling him random facts about Mewni, her wand or even singing alien pop songs in foreign languages he couldn't understand. All he could hear this time was the sound of their brooms splashing around the floor.

"Heeey! Can I help too?"

Cloudy, the pink, sentient cloud that caused all that destruction, was mindlessly wandering around the house, until he flew in front of Marco.  
Despite potentially being a deadly hurricane, the puffy, floating critter was normally a very chill, friendly, helpful magical mistake of nature.

"Thanks but... I think you already did enough of that already, don't you think?" Marco replied, pointing at the mess surrounding him.

The cloud's usual smile disappeared, a sad frown taking its place. "Ow... okay. Sorry...".

Upon seeing the puffy creature's reaction, Marco took a deep breath, already regretting what was he going to say.

"Actually..." he was really doing that. "You could go check the damage on the roof, since you can fly and... you know... we can't."

The cloud's colors became even brighter, his smile coming back, a rainbow flickering around him, the latter acting like the wagging tail of a happy puppy.

"I will do it! I'll fix that roof in no time! No storms, I swear!"

The happy, weather-themed critter floated happily around the room, leaving a glittering, rainbow-stream behind him.

"Awww, Star. I didn't know you could make it rain just like me! That's so cool!" the cloud said, as he passed near the princess, right before disappearing through the ceiling.

As Cloudy left, Marco kept his eyes glued on the floor.  
It took him a few good seconds to fully process the puffy creature's words.  
He stopped and immediately turned to Star; he just now noticed how the princess carefully avoided eye contact the whole time, her face always hidden under her blonde locks of hair.

"Star...?" the boy said, but there was no response. "Are you okay?"

He heard her sniffling and carefully walked towards her, while she was clearly moping the floor distractingly, in the same spot.  
The princess turned her back to him as she felt him getting too close.  
The boy laid his hand on her shoulder and she slowly turned around in response.

"I'm sorry, Marco..."

He didn't even have time to say anything or to react to the sight of her teary blue eyes staring at him.  
Her voice was broken by tears, tears that rolled down her face and through her heart-cheeks as soon as she spoke to him.

Seeing Star cry was mind-blowing for Marco.  
He didn't know that a happy-go-lucky, whimsical person like her was even biologically able to do that.

"Star... what are you talking about...?" he stuttered, putting the mop aside, trying to remain calm and smiling friendly at her, laying both his hands on the princess' shoulders.

"How can I... How can I possibly master that thing..." she said, doing her best to not completely burst into tears, glancing at the wand she left on the table. "... when I can't even hold this stupid mop like a normal person!"

She angrily tossed the broom on the floor, tiny drops of water splattering on both teenagers, but they didn't seem to care about that.  
Marco stared at her, as he felt his own eyes dampening.  
The princess gently, but decisively removed the boy's hands from her shoulders and drove his attention to the damages around them.

"Look at this place, Marco! It's a mess! This is all I'm good for!" there was anger in her voice, her voice still nearly broken by tears. "Glossaryck was right: there *is* something wrong with me!"

"Glossaryck...? What did he..." he said, confused, but the princess cut him off.

"I'm a living beacon for destruction, Marco. I'm too dangerous. And I know you said that you like taking risks, but no, I'm not letting you take this one..."

A moment of silence, then Star wiped her tears away and walked towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

"Wait... where are you going now?" he asked, bewildered by the princess's words.

"I'm calling my mom, Marco. I'm going to tell her everything. Hopefully, she'll let me go back on Mewni..."

Marco felt his heart stop for a short, infinite moment at the sole thought of seeing Star leave Earth.  
The princess was halfway through the stairs, barely holding her tears in.

"Star, that is not..."

The girl somehow lost her temper, fully bursting into tears this time.  
She turned to Marco and walked back to him, almost screaming, like she was reacting to the stupidest thing she ever heard.

"You almost died today, Marco!"

Her ear-piercing, tear-broken voice echoed in the silent, wrecked house.

"You almost died... because of me..."

Star couldn't hold back the tears anymore and just cried, hiding her weeping face in her hands, as if she was ashamed.  
Marco just stared at her, trying to hold his own tears in, but at the same time sincerely confused by the princess' sudden break down.  
He carefully stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around the princess, letting her bury her sobbing face in his soft, hoodie-covered chest.  
The boy didn't know what to do or say: they just stood there, Marco hugging her tightly, letting the girl vent her distress.

The girl kept muttering barely intelligible sentences while crying. "I'm so sorry..." was the only part Marco could understand.  
He gently caressed her golden hair, Star holding onto him tighter in response, but with no signs of calming down.  
Marco felt a single tear rolling down his own cheek; his gaze landed upon the broken wand sitting on the table, the mysterious royal family heirloom that caused so much destruction.

"Because of _us_..." Marco firmly said, breaking the silence, gently freeing himself from her arms, so she could stare at her directly.

"M-Marco, what are you talking about...?" she stuttered, sniffling a bit, confused by the boy's words.

"I almost died today... because of _us_. You're the wand-bearer, sure. Your spells can be quite crazy sometimes. But that thing is acting weird because you destroyed it... to save _me._ "

The girl felt more tears rolling down her cheeks, her eyes glued on Marco's.  
Despite everything, he still had this friendly, comforting smile drawn on his face.

"Now... I don't know how all this magic mumbo-jumbo works. What I do know is that you'd never hurt me. And if you would never hurt me... that only leaves the wand, the wand we both messed up with..." he chuckled a bit, remembering some of the crazy stuff made with it. "...my tentacle arm, your fiery rainbows, the laser puppies... that crazy cloud fixing our roof... you know."

Star just stared at him in silence, a different kind of tears dampening her eyes.  
She finally smiled back; a smile that immediately brightened Marco's day.

"We're in this together, Star." he whispered, wrapping his arms around her again, hugging her tightly. "We're a team..."

She hugged him back, realizing how lucky she's been that her parents chose Earth, the only dimension with a Marco Diaz in it.  
Marco felt the princess' arms almost strangling his entire body, an uniquely heartwarming feeling that he had the honor to experience remarkably often lately.

"Messed up twins...?" she asked, followed by one of her usual giggles.

Marco chuckled a bit in response, the princess' blonde hair tickling his face.

"Messed up twins."

And as the messed up twins they truly were, they simply ignored the chores they had to do and just stood there, hugging, on the wet floor of that wrecked living room, just as the crazy cloud came back downstairs and happily flew by them, drawing a rainbow-colored stream around the two teens.

 **The End**


	6. Liar, Liar

_Hey everyone._  
 _This one-shot here is based on a post I wrote as svtfoeheadcanons on Tumblr._  
 _Given the premise, expect lots of Starco._

 _You know the drill: English is not my first language, so feel free to lie to me._  
 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 **Liar, Liar** ** _  
_** _As Star has to leave Earth to pursue her royal duties on Mewni, deeper feelings begin to emerge._

* * *

Just as a pink glare of magic from the wand flashed before her eyes, all the books on Star's bookcases started to march, one by one, towards the huge trunk sitting in the middle of the Mewni-styled bedroom. With a gracious series of movements, all while muttering a sequence of spells in her Mewnian language, the princess carefully guided the books to their destination, making sure that her wand wouldn't accidentally summon unnecessary narwhal-beasts or cute, rabid, flying critters. The books were one of the last things Star put in her magical, virtually bottomless travel trunk: her regal, tower-shaped, three-stories bedroom was unnaturally empty, so much so that she could hear her own echo. Only thing she kept outside was her fancy-looking bed, as she still needed a place to sleep for one last night.

Packing all the stuff she brought from Mewni was a slow process, the complete opposite of the fast, explosive magic she cast during her first day on Earth, in the once tiny room that her foster family, the Diaz, reserved for all the other exchange students. One full year passed since then and lots of things have changed. Over time, the princess learned to control her powerful magic wand, realizing how truly dangerous it could potentially be to herself and her loved ones. While the wand-mastering earned her the long-awaited, deserved praise from her usual strict Mother, this also meant that her training was over and that she had to go back to her Kingdom, Mewni, to eventually pursue her royal duties and even become Queen someday.

Star reluctantly kept thinking about her glittering, royal destiny, mindlessly watching the stream of books marching towards the bottomless trunk. But she snapped back to reality the moment she heard somebody knocking to her door.

"Come in!" she said, smiling at her guest.

Marco Diaz stepped in the bedroom, closing the door behind him; by far used to the princess' incredibly displays of magic, what made him speechless was how that usual colorful, messy room looked now completely blank: his red hoodie was glowing, compared to the dull emptiness surrounding him. He then turned to her, sporting an amused, but friendly grin. Despite everything, he still found those spells fascinating.

"I see you're almost done." he said, walking next to her.

"Yeah. That was easy. No need to call the firemen... this time."

They both chuckled, but chose to not fully remember the "dragon" accident.  
Instead, they sat on Star's bed, side by side, looking at the long stream of books being swallowed by the bottomless trunk.

"So... a Queen, uh. You must be excited for that!" said Marco, awkwardly (but gently) elbowing her.

The princess replied with a quiet, soft laughter at first. "You know... I may have lied to my Mom in the last few months..." she then confessed.

Marco, still smiling, gave her royal friend a puzzled look. "I thought you were excited."

"Yeah but... I just didn't want to let her down." she continued, this time turning a bit more serious. "I've accepted the fact that I will become Queen one day, Marco. Trapped forever between the glittering walls of my own shiny prison."

The boy tried to cheer her up, even though he knew how staying in one place forever was like a punishment for her. "Well... that doesn't sound too bad, to be honest."

"I know!" she agreed and stood up, as if she was trying to focus on her thoughts. "I just don't want it to happen so fast, you understand?"

Marco got what his royal friend was trying to say. She was fine with accepting her future royal duties, but didn't want to give up her freedom. The boy knew that Star was literally a force of nature and keeping her in one single dimension at such young age would destroy her.

"But it's fine..." she quickly reassured, her smile coming back, as she sat next to him again. "Mewni is a mess. At least I'll be able to fix it someday!"

"Making up your own rules." Marco suggested, with a chuckle. "Like you always do, Star."

They laughed a bit about it, as if they were teasing each other with embarrassing secrets.  
Time surely flew, especially during the last few months.  
And just like that, they were spending their last evening together.

"A carriage will pick me up tomorrow at school, by the way. I'll say goodbye to everyone before the classes begin." she explained, without losing her smile, even though Marco could see a quick, glimmering light in her eyes.

"Everyone's tears flooding the school will hopefully be enough to cancel Miss Skullnick's pop quiz." he joked. "Nah... she's got a heart of stone anyway..."

In that moment, a loud thud made them almost jump off the bed: it was Star's bottomless trunk, which closed automatically once it finished "devouring" the last few books in the room. The key into its hole even made a couple of turns, locking it.

"Well, I guess we can go get some dinner now..." Marco stated.

He stood up, eagerly rubbing his hands. "We're having a special Taco Night for you. It's what we do whenever an exchange student leaves." he explained, knowing how much the princess loved his dad's special tacos.

"Awww... Marco." she replied, giving him a very quick hug. "I want a picture of us hanging on your student wall, understand?!"

Indeed, there was a wall downstairs that looked more like a photo-gallery featuring all the boys and girls that the Diaz family hosted through the years.  
Once the boy freed himself from the affectionate grip of his royal friend's arms, he reassured her.

"Don't worry, Star. You'll get your own spot on that wall, just like any other exchange student!" he chuckled.

Both sporting a silly smile, the two kids headed downstairs, soon greeted by the addicting scent of Mr. Diaz's culinary talent.  
An exclusive Taco Night for the princess coming from another dimension: not a very regal-looking goodbye gift, but definitely a Star-approved one.

* * *

Just as Star told him the night before, the next early morning, once he got there, Marco saw a very fancy-looking carriage parked outside of the high school's main entrance, strange horse-like creatures sitting in front of it. The princess's mother was probably sitting inside of it, waiting for her daughter to join her and finally come back to their magical kingdom. "It's happening, for real..." Marco thought, feeling something fluttering in his stomach, a weird sensation that the boy blamed to one taco too many.

In the school, the princess, who was wearing a royal Mewnian dress, made sure to say 'goodbye' to each of her schoolmates and friends, as she also brought a gift for everyone. For Oskar, the boy she used to have a crush on, she brought a magically-made, brand-new keytar that emitted colorful streams of pure energy whenever someone played it. For her biggest fan, accurately nicknamed "Starfan", her original horned-headband -she almost passed out once she laid her eyes on it.  
And so on.

"I want you to have this..." Star said, handing a folded piece of paper to Janna, the local prankster.

The girl uncaringly unfolded the paper that the princess gave to her, until she realized what it was.

"Is this an actual page of your magic journal?" she asked, incredulous. "I can't have this!" she said, shaking her head nervously.

"Janna. This page explains how to open a portal to a dimension full of soul-absorbing clown-goblins. So... I want you to have it."

Holding her tears in, still almost speechless because of the beautiful gift, the prankster spread out her arms. "Aw, Star. Come here!"

Getting a sincere, unironic hug from Janna was like winning the lottery and Star enjoyed every moment of this rare event.  
This made them earn some amused looks by the other students, who just witnessed the ultimately rare "soft" side of the mischief girl.

She brought something for her favorite professor as well: a real Mewnian battle-axe.

"It's fine, Mrs. Butterfly. I love being the monster everyone assumed I was." Miss Skullnick admitted, as Star also offered one last attempt to turn her back into a regular human.

The princess' "goodbye parade" met an abrupt end, however, once the bell rang, loudly reminding everyone that classes and pop quizzes were about to begin.  
Star was right outside of Marco's classroom, the boy in his usual red hoodie standing in front of her, as his classmates headed to their pop-quiz nightmare. Eventually, the two teenagers were joined by Mr. Skeeves, the school principal, who was there to escort the magical exchange student to her carriage.

"Mrs. Butterfly... I'm afraid it's time." he simply announced.

Star and Marco didn't really know what to say now: they were just intensely looking at each other as if they were fighting the urge of doing something crazy.

"Have fun, Star. You'll be a great Queen." he said instead, with the most sincere smile.

She finally became visibly teary-eyed and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his soft hoodie.  
The boy did the same, as he felt the gentle brush of Star's blonde hair tickling his whole face.  
For a moment, he had the wild thought of _not_ putting an end to that last hug.

"Thanks for everything, Marco." she whispered to his ear, a couple of tears rolling down on her heart-shaped cheeks.

The princess stepped back, wiping her tears off, sniffling loudly.  
Marco finally joined his schoolmates and walked into his classroom.  
They awkwardly waved at each other, a silly smile drawn on their faces.  
And the door finally closed.  
She was gone.

The other students were already sitting behind their own desks, Mrs. Skullnick walking through the classroom, giving each of her students a paper with a series of very hard questions written on it. Upon hearing his classmates scoffing reaction to the test, Marco snapped back into the real world and stopped staring at that meaningless door; he reached his desk and sat down, the pop-quiz already placed in front of him. He wasn't new to this stuff, so this test was going to be a piece of cake: he grabbed his pencil and began reading the first question.

But the words made no sense, so he tried again.  
Still nothing. It's like the quiz was about a subject they never studied for or even written in language he couldn't get.  
He again felt that sorta-painful feeling in his stomach.  
Marco looked around him, as if he was trying to find an explanation to his turmoil.

His gaze eventually stopped on the empty desk placed next to him.  
The tiny, weird scribbles it was covered with immediately got his full attention.  
He recognized Star's handwriting and drawing-style, those teeny, smiling spiders she was obsessed with.  
Hearts and critters, the princess' favorite drawing subjects.

Marco never considered those doodles interesting, yet he couldn't take his eyes off of them.  
He swore he could hear Star's lighthearted chuckle next to him, as he felt his heart flutter, just like his stomach.  
The boy took a deep breath, driving once again his attention on the test.  
He clenched his own fists, trying to focus on the piece of paper in front of him, but he just couldn't.

"Mrs. Skullnick!" he quickly stood up, accidentally pushing his desk in the process.

He could feel all the other students' eyes glued on him, but he didn't care.

"May... May I go to the bathroom, please...?"

Normally, his classmates would laugh at him being a stuttering mess, but they all remained silent instead.

"Sure... whatever." the professor replied, mindlessly reading a newspaper while sitting behind his own, bigger desk.

"Do I need a hall pass?" the boy also asked. The force of habit.

The response was a loud series of groans echoing in the whole classroom. "Aw you gotta be kidding me!" someone yelled.  
The professor shook her head, looking amusingly disappointed by his behavior.  
Marco was puzzled by those odd reactions and turned around, noticing how his classmates stared at him in annoyed disbelief.

"I can't believe this." Janna's voice got his attention first, sitting way back in the class. "The love of your life is leaving... and you ask for a hall pass?! I swear you're hopeless, Diaz!" she scolded him, visibly irritated by his dorky behavior.

Upon hearing that, the boy could feel his heart stop for a moment, as if Janna's words made him realize what was happening to him.  
She was leaving, there's nothing he could do to stop that.  
But he still wanted to tell her the truth.

"Diaz. Just go." said Skullnick, visibly knowing what was all that about.

Marco took a deep breath and looked at his impatient classmates one last time.  
He then started to run, almost crushing through the door.  
It's like the school was on fire and he was running for his life.  
Running so fast made him clumsier than usual: he crushed more than once on the school lockers and almost tripped on his own feet or portions of wet floors.  
Other students left their classes, puzzled by this boy running through the halls like he was chased by a voracious beast.

"Told ya he was gonna do it!" one of the students exulted, elbowing a fellow classmate. "You own me five bucks, bro."

Marco was running out of breath: he swore the school got magically bigger just to mess with him.  
The boy passed by Mr. Skeeves, who just escorted Star to her carriage. "No running in the halls!" he yelled, but couldn't help but smile encouragingly at the young man running for the girl of his dreams.

Marco ultimately reached the main entrance and he finally saw Star's fancy carriage, still parked in front of the school, the princess getting inside of it.

"Star!" he shouted, bursting out of the building, running towards her.

He then finally tripped on the steps preceding the main entrance and messily rolled down like human bowling ball.

"Marco?" Star said, turning around. That sure was a bad fall. "Oh my gosh, are you OK?!"

She tried to help him, but the boy immediately stood up on his own. "I'm fine!" he quickly said, panting wildly, out of breath.

A moment of silence followed, the two teens once again simply staring at each other. Star was in an amused disbelief, while Marco was just smiling, happy that he could see her again one more time, while still trying to catch some breath and covered in sweat. He was a mess.

"We're both liars, Star." he finally said.

The princess was genuinely puzzled by that statement.

"I told you you're like any other exchange student. But I was lying." he chuckled, still panting as if he was running out of oxygen in his lungs.

He shook his head in disbelief, laughing a bit more, something glittering in his eyes, eyes glued on her.

"Oh my gosh, Star. You're not even like any other person in the whole Universe, I swear." he stepped a bit closer to her, still happy that he was able to finally tell her the truth, in the hopes that his dorkiness wouldn't ruin everything as usual. "You're amazing, Star. You're a force of nature. You're brilliant, you're brave, you're so much smarter than you let people believe!" he took one more deep breath. "You've been a wild, magical, life-changing experience that I will never forget."

Unbeknown to the two teens, students and professors eagerly looked at them from behind the school windows. It's like they were waiting for something like that to happen since the interdimensional princess and the safe kid met one year earlier and they were not going to miss the show.  
Star's mother, who was sitting in the carriage, overlooked the whole scene in religious silence.

"You'd deserve your own wall, not just a tiny picture with this dork..." he joked, gesturing to all himself. "I never lied to you, Star. And I didn't want to start now."

After that, he just stood there in front of her, in silence. In his mind, he thought that this deep speech he had in mind was going to be longer, but his thoughts were being a messy train of feelings that he couldn't ignore anymore. He just wished he could go back in time, back when they still didn't know that their expiry date was getting closer, so they could spend more time together while embracing those new feelings.

"Marco..." Star simply replied, teary-eyed, with a gentle smile drawn on her face.

She didn't know what to say, but she wasn't going to lie to him.  
Or at least to herself: what Marco told her was not something new to her, because she felt the same way.  
She was mad for how long it took to him to tell her the truth.  
But she was truly mad at herself for not realizing her feelings sooner.

The princess raised her wand, the heirloom glowing in a bright pink color.  
Marco didn't step back and stared puzzled at the magical weapon.

"Oh my gooosh!" Star suddenly said, out of nowhere.

The wand fired a series of colorful, loud, but ultimately harmless spells around, confetti covering the entire front-yard of the school.  
Star was clearly faking... something, the Queen staring at her, unimpressed by her really poor acting skills.  
Upon realizing what she was doing, Marco played along, proving that the princess was not the only bad young actor around.

"The wand! It's out of my control! If only I had more time to train! Nooooo!" they were both really bad at this.

Her Mother, in silence, got off the carriage, ending this farce, her tall figure towering on both Star and Marco.  
She dusted some shiny, colorful glitters off her very royal-looking dress and stared at the princess, impassable.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Star?" she asked, serious, but she already knew the answer.

The princess took a deep breath, ready to face her own Mother.  
No more lies, not anymore.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I just don't want it to happen so fast..." she simply said, knowing that the Queen would get what was she clearly talking about.

The woman put her hands on her daughter's shoulders, a weirdly affectionate gesture they both weren't used to.

"I know." she replied, smiling. "I always knew, Star. I just wish you'd told me sooner..."

"I'm sorry..." the princess insisted. "I didn't want to let you down."

The Queen looked at her, confused. " _Let me down?_ " she asked. "Star, in the last few months you matured so much, you completely mastered your wand, you have done amazing things." surprisingly enough, she also turned to Marco. "And this young human here would probably agree with me, I presume." she said, in a knowing tone.

The boy simply smiled in return.  
Star was instead bewildered by her Mother's caring words.  
She wasn't really used to it.

"I know I've not always been the best kind of mother, but I want you to know that I'm really proud of you."

Star's eyes got teary-eyed again and, in response, she trapped her mother in one of her well-known hugs. The Queen, initially startled, eventually hugged her back, realizing that she should have had such "not-royal" behavior more often during her daughter's childhood.  
She too wishes she could go back in time.

"Alright..." she said, awkwardly stepping out of her daughter's affectionate grip.

She got on the carriage, earning a puzzled look by her own daughter.

"Wait, that's it?" she asked, surprised by her mom's reaction.

"My dear, as I said, if you wanted to stay on Earth a bit more, you could have just told us, saving me this trip." she dusted a few more confetti off her dress and sat inside the carriage. "Come on, Manfred. Take me back to Mewni."

The horse-like creatures in front of the fancy means of transport roared and started to walk.  
In a few seconds, the entire carriage passed through a portal leading to Star's magical kingdom, leaving Earth, the magical gate closing behind it.  
Everything went silent, with Star and Marco standing by the street. They turned around, only to find all of their schoolmates and professors staring at them.  
Star chuckled awkwardly, considering how tear-jerking the "goodbye parade" she had moments before was.

"Whoops. Looks like I'm staying." she simply said.

Upon hearing her statement, the entire school abruptly broke the silence by erupting in a roaring celebration. They were all cheering for her.  
The normally stoic professors clapped their hands: a bit of magic in their life as well was the best thing that could happen to them.

Star stared in flattered amazement at her classmates, until her gaze landed on Marco, who was instead staring at her the whole time.  
He noticed his awkward _gaffe_ and quickly drove his attention to the loud school as well.  
But the princess enjoyed that.

"So... now that I'm in a different dimension, I'm going to need a guide, don't you think?" she chuckled, gently taking his hand. Marco was startled. "Will you show me around, _safe-kid_?" she said, chuckling a bit more, her heart-cheeks glowing softly.

Marco turned to her, taking her other hand, now fully embracing this new beginning. "That's a risk I'm willing to take." they stepped closer to each other, their foreheads now tenderly pressed together. "And that's _not_ a lie."

 **The End**


	7. Lonely Fire

_Hey everyone._  
 _"Friendenemies" has been one of those things that you didn't know you needed until they actually happen._  
 _It was just so beautiful._  
 _So, naturally, I had to ruin everything with a cheesy, edgy-ish one-shot._  
 _I wrote this trash right after the premiere of the episode, so it's a bit of a mess (more than usual at least)._  
 _It takes place right after the end of the episode and looked much better in my head than it does on "paper"._  
 _Yes, even the title._

 _Now, embrace the TomCo, my BROTP, because bromance brings world peace._

 _You know the drill: English is not my first language, so feel free to sing a duet with me (wait, what?)._  
 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 **Lonely Fire _  
_** _Marco tells Tom a deep, important secret about his childhood._

* * *

Marco was by far used to most of the supernatural accidents he was usually unfortunate enough to bump into.  
But it's not like he had any other choice: when your roommate is a magical princess from another dimension, it's more about surviving than a routine.

However, seeing his once-dead hero, martial artist and movie star Mackie Hand, kicking some serious butt, was an unique sight even for him.  
The boy was just sitting there on the sidewalk, enjoying some cereal, his eyes glued on his undead, zombified idol, as he literally threw his ribs as if they were shuriken, easily getting rid of a bunch of goofy security guards who were clearly not paid enough for that.

"This is so much better than the movie marathon!" Marco thought, enthusiastically.

Indeed, it was like watching one of his favorite karate movies, ironically just outside of the movie theater marathoning the undead warrior's filmography he was supposed to attend to that night. He was staring in awe at Hand's extremely well-coordinated moves and was so involved into the action that he almost forgot that we wasn't witnessing that mistake of nature alone.

"Wow, you were right! This guy's for real."

Tom the demon was sitting next to Marco, eating cereal from his own bowl (a rather mundane food choice considering that he's the Prince of the Underworld) with all three eyes devoted to the zombie movie star roundhouse kicking whoever tried to attack him.  
He looked genuinely invested by the karate-brawl in front of them.

"Yeah! I told you!" Marco proudly stated, chewing the root-beer flavored corn.

As much as he was happy that the demon was into his favorite kind of movies, that didn't really change his overall opinion on him, especially considering how they got there in the first place: because of Tom's lies and manipulations. Marco honestly believed that the three-eyed boy wanted to spend some time with him, as a way of making up for the terrible behavior he had in their past encounters (both to him and, perhaps most importantly, Star), so he gave him the benefit of the doubt. Predictably, however, it was all just a ruse, a way to pass some kind of anger-management test set up by the Prince's life-coach Brian, with Marco being necessary to said "anger exam" as he apparently was Tom's "most hated person".

And for Marco, friendship wasn't something you could just lie about so easily.

But the demon did try to make up for it, understanding his mistakes, by resurrecting the undead force of nature kicking butt in front of them.  
The boy in the red hoodie couldn't deny that Star's ex-boyfriend was at least _trying_ to change.  
Maybe not with him, but he had to give him credit for it.

"I... I still don't like you, Tom." he just said, with a surprisingly sincere smile.

Not really the "credit" he was going for.

"I still don't like you too, Marco." the demon did the same.

"Heh... at least we agree on something..." the human boy replied, sipping some of that non-alcoholic beverage directly from the bowl. "Well, this and our musical tastes."

That wasn't a lie.  
They were both big fans of a cheesy Canadian boy band called _Love Sentence_ , the only thing Tom wasn't lying about.  
And Marco was sure of it, as he couldn't get out of his head the incredibly embarrassing duet they sung moments earlier, right after he found about the ruse.  
Only a true fan would do something as cheesy as that, no doubts about it.  
Thank goodness the city was deserted: becoming a meme wasn't exactly Marco's dream.

"Better alone than badly accompanied. That means _you_. You're the _badly_ part."

It was weird how Tom was talking in a sincere, ironically friendly tone of voice, even though his words were saying the exact opposite of that.  
Not that Marco was acting differently.

"Aw... some good old alone-time... silence. Now _that's_ something I'd lie for." he said, in a slightly sarcastic tone, thinking of the chaotic, rainbow mess he was probably going to find once he'd got back home, a mess that he would have pretended to hate as usual.

He took one more long sip of root beer, imagining what his royal roommate was even up to earlier that evening, all wrapped on those Christmas lights. He was used to magic, but to Star's _mundane_ mishaps... that's another story.

"You... you don't know what you're talking about."

Tom's remark felt slightly off to Marco.  
He didn't sound mad, more like disappointed for some reason.  
A rather ironic, peculiar reaction, considering the demon's disputable moral.

"I... I don't?"

The boy in the rood hoodie looked puzzled at his rival.  
He knew he was probably going to regret that question, but he was admittedly intrigued.

"It's not your fault." the demon said, in a strangely mature manner, with a scolding look. "It's not like you ever experienced what being alone means."

Tom got up, staring down at the human with all of his three eyes, towering over him, as if he was deeply offended by something.

"Say hi to Star for me. Oh, with your permission of course, hoodie boy." he said, in a deadpan tone, mockingly bowing to him, and walked back to his demonic carriage.

The horned underworld Prince was more prone to blowing up when getting mad, even about the silliest things.  
This subtle, "calm" rage was something new to Marco.  
And probably even to Tom himself.

"Wait, you can't make me feel bad about this!" the human stuttered, startled but also puzzled. "You're the one who lied to me and-"

But the demon cut him off, speaking calmly, without even turning around, getting inside his carriage. "I'm not saying that I was right or anything; we both don't care anyway. Just go home, Diaz."

Marco simply stood up, somehow feeling once again deceived.  
Tom was an unpredictable riddle of emotions, one not worthy of his time.  
The boy, hands in his pockets, walked in the opposite direction, walking past his karate hero.

"Uhm... I think I just killed that man..." Mackie Hand said, pointing at a guard lying on the ground. "No, false alarm. He's moving."

The safe-kid ignored him, eyes glued on his feet.  
He was so mad at Tom. He felt so dumb for even believing that the demon wanted to be his friend, or at least not a murdering machine as always.  
All Marco wanted was simply go back to his house and tell Star how crazy the evening was, both in its good and bad ways; how much Tom didn't really change; heck, maybe even brag about of how he managed to shatter that weird magically locked door of the demon's carriage with a single kick.

Just trying to get some laughs of all that mess.  
And with Star that was fairly easy.  
He was glad to have someone to talk about such a crazy evening.

And then it hit him, just as a loud truck passed near him, snapping him back into reality.  
The whole thing was simpler than he thought.  
He felt even dumber for not understanding it sooner.

He turned around and ran back to the movie theater.  
Tom's carriage was still parked in front of it.  
Mackie, however was gone, probably wreaking havoc somewhere else in the coolest way possible, but he did leave a trail of moaning people behind him.

The muffled words and instruments of " _Too Little Too Late_ " by _Love Sentence_ echoed in the empty street, the music becoming louder as the boy got closer and closer to the carriage. He didn't know exactly why we was doing that, going back to a demon who straight up hates him.

He stepped inside the fancy carriage, the interior looking way bigger on the inside, the entire place adorned mostly with skeleton-themed forniture.  
Tom was sitting on his couch-throne, eyes closed, peacefully listening to his/their favorite boy band.  
Marco didn't say a word and simply stood there, in the middle of the room, while Brian, again in his tiger disguise, walked past him, making some purr noises.  
That sparked a different series of questions into the boy's head; questions for another time, possibly never.

"What?! How did you-" the demon noticed the human's presence and didn't look very happy about it.

"The door: it's gone. I destroyed it. That's how I got inside." Marco simply explained, interrupting what was probably going to be a series of insults.

"Right..." he scoffed, turning off the stereo, as it all went silent around them. "What do you want?"

That was a surprisingly hard question for him.  
Marco didn't really know what to answer to that apparently simple question.  
He didn't like him, he didn't like his root beer either, but deep inside he felt he somewhat _had to_ come back to him.

"I know how that feels like..." he simply said.

Tom remained unperturbed, knowing what his guest was talking about. "Who cares."

"You may act like a jerk and a bad boy all the time, but there is a reason you do this." and for Marco, that reason was also painfully familiar.

He sat on the smaller, soft poof-chair in front of Tom's huge throne, as if he was going to lecture the demon.  
The boy probably went into "Dr. Marco PHD" mode without even noticing it.

"I know how that feels like." he reassured, again, this time more serious.

And when Marco could even hear his own words echoing in that room, he realized how worse the situation probably was back into the Underworld.  
He looked around him: the place was messy, there were snacks on the floor and empty cans of sodas a bit everywhere. But what Marco was trying to remember, however, is how unnaturally clean and "new" everything looked before he and Tom started bonding, almost as if it was the first time that somebody actually _used_ the stuff in that room.

"Did you hear that?" Tom said, still unimpressed, referring to the echo. "This is what my royal palace sounds like. I'll let you imagine the rest."

Marco remained silent for a moment, thinking of something to say, but the horned prince anticipated him.

"There. You had your touchy-feely confession. Now leave, before I set fire to your organs." he threatened, but didn't look menacing at all.

In response, the kid didn't move at all.  
On the contrary, he adjusted his position on the poof he was sitting on, getting more comfortable, ignoring the threats.

"Look, Tom. I don't like you." he admitted. "And you don't like me. Good. That's great."

"Fine. Now leave." Tom replied.

"Trust me. I'd rather be anywhere else right now. This moving piece of Underworld is literally the last place in the Universe I'd want to be."

"Fascinating. Now leave."

Marco took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, as the demon's apparently indifferent replies really tested his proverbial patience.  
But in truth, he was also realizing the actual reason he got so mad at him before, besides all the lies and the overall jerkiness: Tom looked very familiar to him, in a way that he would never admit. He reminded him of a certain kid struggling to make friends outside of his known "safe" contexts.

"I do think that you need to work on your anger issues..." he saw Tom rolling his eyes, but this wasn't going to be about his anger. Not directly at least. "...but maybe this kind of therapy is not working for you, you know."

Before he could say anything else, an angered voice interrupted him.

"Hey!" Brian shouted, from the other side of the room. "I'm an expert in dealing with anger issues. You might as well show some respect, kid." he said.

"Dude... you are literally wearing a tiger suit while chilling in your own litter box!" Marco responded, trying to understand why Brian still didn't drop the feline act.

The life-coach simply shrugged under his fur-suit and reached for a ball of yarn. "To each their own." he replied, and started playing with his toy.

Marco turned back to Tom, hoping that Star could use some kind of memory-eraser spell on him later.  
He focused once again on the demon, who was oddly passive about everything, even Brian's _"please make fun of me"-_ weirdness.  
The human decided to simply get to the point, before any other suit-wearing grown man could interrupt him.

"Alright... I'll just tell you something that I've never told to anyone..."

"I'm so going to pull out all of your organs..." he whispered, annoyed by Marco's persistence. "Who cares?!" he then shouted.

"I know, but I'm telling you anyway."

For a moment, Marco stopped caring about the mean things Tom did to him.  
He wasn't trying to justify his bad actions or anything, but he felt some kind of connection to him, against all odds.  
A very personal connection this time.

"I assume you did your research on me, so you know that we have this 'hosting-exchange-students' thing going on."

The three-eyed prince rolled his eyes, which Marco interpreted as a sign that he was listening, after all.

"Star is just the last of a long series of weirdos I had the pleasure to live with. Well... Star is certainly not like any other exchange students that lived with us... she's different, she's just..."

Tom coughed loudly, noticing how Marco was struggling to stay on topic, his three eyes glowing red for a second.  
The safe-kid awkwardly resumed talking.

"The point is... there is a reason my family started doing this."

The boy gestured to all of himself, a silly smile drawn on his face.

"It's me." he chuckled. "I'm the reason."

That made him earn a puzzled look from the demon, who tilted his head a bit, looking more like a stray dog listening to some weird noises.  
Now it was his turn to be confused, or at least intrigued.

"What do you mean...?" he asked, narrowing his eyes, the one of his forehead more than the other two.

"Okay... I know this may be hard to believe, but I'm not exactly the most popular kid around, you know." he joked, apparently trusting Tom with some self-irony.

Not that the Prince cared, anyway.

"First grade was a disaster. I don't really remember, but it probably was the first time I left my house and met new people, kids around my age. It was _horrible!_ "

Despite not having fond memories of his childhood, Marco's storytelling had an ironic, optimistic vibe going on.

"I'm telling you dude, I was a mess. I always felt out of place. I just wanted to hide into some kind of shell the whole time..." he explained, pointing at his red hoodie, which was in fact all wrapped around his skinny body like a shell on a turtle. "One time I skipped school for two weeks because I was extremely stressed about it. My parents were so worried..."

Tom dropped the indifference act and looked genuinely interested in Marco's story.  
He still didn't understand what his point was though.

"So they did this crazy thing." he laughed. "Since they couldn't bring me to the outside world, they chose to bring the outside world to me, get it?"

The boy stared at the demon for a few moments, as if he was expecting a reaction from him.  
All he got was silence, and that weird echo again.  
And some sirens blaring in the distance around the city, police cars probably looking for a certain undead karate warrior on the loose.

"I'd love to say that it worked, but trust me, I still want to curl up inside my hoodie the whole time even today." he fiddled with his trusted hoodie's zipper a bit, keeping that smile drawn on his face, amused by his own memories. "A few months ago I even believed that people hated me because they called me 'safe-kid', when in truth they were laughing with me, not at me. And the worst part is that I was dumb enough to believe to _my own_ lies!"

Tom looked visibly perplexed by Marco's speech.  
He just stared at him with a serious look, but his third eye on the forehead somehow revealed some different emotions.

"Why are you telling me this...?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Because I know how that feels like." he insisted. "I don't like you, Tom. But that doesn't mean that no one else does, believe me."

Marco finally got up, hands in his pockets, still staring at the horned prince.

"Take that from an idiot who was dumb enough to think that somebody would actually want to hang out with him."

He didn't mean to be mean-spirited or anything.  
However, he was glad that this time they had a much calmer conversation.  
Marco simply headed to the door after that, quite unsure of who actually needed that short speech.

As he walked towards the door, the demon joined his hands and closed his three eyes, silently processing the human's words.

"That was..." he spoke in a serious tone. ."..the lamest thing I ever heard in my life. Seriously." and then shifted to a more amused one.

Once again, Marco felt deceived.  
However, he was kinda expecting that this time.  
He just shrugged and ignored Tom's taunts.

"Whatever dude. It's not like I ca-"

"Thanks." the demon cut him off.

That was new.  
And actually sincere.  
Probably the scariest Tom he's ever seen.

With some kind of telekinesis, the demon made two cans of soda fly directly into his flaming hands; he then threw one can at Marco, who managed to clumsily catch it.  
He simply smiled in return and headed back to the poof and sat again in front of the demon.  
The boy carefully opened his can of soda, but it was good to last.

"Tom..." Marco said.

"What is it, Marco?"

"This is boiling hot..." he said, the beverage inside of the small can literally gushing outside of its container, the very warm soda spilling on his jeans.

"Oh... I know." he replied, with a smug smirk, blowing on his flaming hand.

The safe kid shook his head and chuckled, amused at how surreal all of that was, this time choosing to get some laughs from this mess.  
Something he was going to do later with Star, anyway.

"I hate you, Tom."

"Likewise, Marco."

Despite the silence that followed, there was no echo this time.

 **The End**

* * *

 _While I had something like that in mind, the one-shot's final soda-related lines are actually from one of how-lemon's svtfoe comics._  
 _That guy is a peculiar artist. Look for him on Tumblr._

 _Thanks for reading!_


	8. A Marco Moment

_That Season 2 Finale had so much stuff going on._  
 _But let's just focus on the trash for now._  
 _A very quick and short one-shot._

 _You know the drill: English is not my first language, so feel free to forget this one-shot ever existed._  
 _Hope you enjoy! **  
**_

* * *

 **A Marco Moment**  
 _Set right after the Season 2 finale, Marco realizes that something is missing._

* * *

The boy in the red hoodie stared in silence at the empty room in front of him.  
It was just a mundane guest room, the one his family always used for exchange students.

Marco was feeling weird, almost out of breath, the heart in his chest pumping wildly as if he's just finished running a marathon.  
There even were, strangely enough, tears in his eyes. How did those end up there?  
He kept staring at the simple bedroom around him, as if he was desperately looking for something.  
Or someone.

He could hear the party from downstairs going on normally, people laughing and having fun.  
Which made him question his presence in that meaningless room even more.  
The boy closely inspected the room's walls and furniture as if it could give him some answers.  
He could swear that there was reason he felt so weird.  
A reason why he was there in the first place.

"Marco... there you are!"

He turned around, startled by a girl's voice.  
It was Jackie, his girlfriend, whose haunting green eyes could read through his fake smile in a moment.

"What are you doing here all alone? Something's bothering you?" she asked.

As crazy as that sounded, Marco could only think of one answer, which was another question.

"Yes actually... what am I doing up here?" he chuckled, realizing how silly that sounded.

Jackie smiled at him and gently took his hands, stepping closer to him. "I don't know... having a _'Marco Moment'_ maybe?"

"No, seriously." he said, trying to sound as serious as possible. "I feel like I ran up here for a reason but... I can't really remember now?"

That made him earn an amused look from his patient girlfriend, but he didn't want to sound crazy.

"Maybe I *am* having one of my weird _'Marco Moments'_ after all..." he admitted, smiling at her.

"Or even weirder... someone put a weird spell on all of us or something..." she joked, poking at his head. "But it's OK: I like weird."

The two teens smiled at each other and left the room, closing the door behind them, heading back downstairs, the music getting louder, despite being late.  
Marco turned back one last time, looking at the wooden door leading to that empty bedroom.  
He could swear that there was a reason he rushed there, a very important one.

But maybe he just forgot.

 **The End**


End file.
